


Family Lost and Family Found

by julieschmulie



Category: The Outer Worlds (Video Game)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Angst, Found Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-13 15:01:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29280363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/julieschmulie/pseuds/julieschmulie
Summary: The Captain of the Unreliable parted ways with her crew after the raid on Tartarus, leaving each of them to go find new lives in a newly free Halcyon. Now, months later, the toll of her travels through the colony have come home to roost. Phineas decides enough is enough, and organizes a surprise for the Captain.
Relationships: Implied Captain/Nyoka, The Captain & Phineas Welles
Kudos: 3





	Family Lost and Family Found

Phineas Welles passed through the hanger bag of the Hope, heading back to the Unreliable. He and the Captain had been living there for the past 4 months, working together to revive the colonists and get them to a place where they could live and work to save Halcyon. It was slow work. Every colonist they woke up needed to be given a series of briefings, time to decompress and become used to time dilation, and a place to live and work. Most of the colonists went to Terra-2, working feverishly to establish Halycon’s agriculture well enough that they wouldn’t all starve in a few years.

It was hard, exhaustive work. The Captain spent her time ferrying the colonists around and helped with time-dilation acclimation, leaving the science to Phineas. He was used to working alone, but he never felt like he had the answers the colonists needed.

But now wasn’t the time to worry about that. He needed some time off to prepare for the next day. The Unreliable’s door slid open with a soft hiss. ADA’s voice came to life with a low hum.

_Good Evening, Mr. Welles. The Captain is in the kitchen if you wish to speak with her._

“Thank you, ADA,” said Phineas. He climbed the stairs, his boots clanking against the metal floor. He hadn’t gotten this much walking done in years. He could feel the ache in his bones.

The Captain was curled up in one of the chairs, nursing a bottle of Spectrum Vodka. She was half asleep, but her head jerked up when she noticed Phineas. She reached for the pistol at her belt on reflex, almost drawing it from her holster before she realized who it was.

“Jesus Christ, Phineas. You scared the hell out of me,” said the Captain, slumping back down on the chair. She took a swig of the red vodka, grimacing as it went down. “How’s work coming?”

“We’ll have another four going to Stellar Bay tomorrow morning,” said Phineas. He observed the Captain’s slurred words and glazed eyes. The bottle was half empty, and he hardly had to speculate on where the missing liquor had gone.

“Okay, I’ll make sure to get them there. Ugh, shit.” The Captain set the bottle on the side table by the chair, leaning forward into a half-fetal position. She held her head, pressing against her eyes with her palms.

“Here, I’ll get you some water,” said Phineas. He filled a glass at the tap, the filtered water sparkling in the dim light of the kitchen. The Captain accepted it with a murmured thanks, gingerly sipping at it. “You might want to consider pacing your drinking a bit more.”

“I’ll be fine. Nyoka could drink way more than this and shoot relatively straight,” said the Captain. She let her head hang down, looking at her boots. She suddenly looked vulnerable in the light, the hard lines worn into her face by months of fighting vanishing. “Fuck, I wonder how she’s doing.”

“Have you messaged her recently?,” said Phineas. He grabbed a Zero-Gee Brew and sat beside her, twisting off the cap with a soft hiss.

“No… I dunno. She’s got a lot going on.”

“I think she’d be happy to hear from you. You always did seem sweet on her.” The Captain grunted, reaching for the vodka. Phineas pulled it away, twisting the plastic cap back on and setting it beside himself in the chair. The Captain glared at him but said nothing, sipping from her water. After a long pause, she spoke quietly.

“How the hell did you do this for so long?,” whispered the Captain. 

“Do what?”

“This ‘saving the world' shit. Working alone. It sucks.” 

“With no small amount of self loathing. It’s not a path I would recommend to anyone,” said Phineas. “I would understand if you hated me for saddling you with it.” The captain waved him off, groaning. 

“Come on, you didn’t exactly have a choice. I just… fuck. I don’t know. It sucks being a captain without a crew.”

“I understand the feeling. If it’s any consolation you have SAM, as well as myself for company.”

“Sam’s a fucking robot and… I know I just. Fuck, I’m sorry. I’m a shitty goddamn protege.” Tears welled up in the Captain’s eyes, leaving herself to curl up in the chair, cradling her knees. “I miss them a lot. It’s hard.”

“Give them a call. Hell, go visit them. I can manage just fine here for a few days.”

  
  
“I… I don’t know, they have lives. Shit to go do. Parvati’s got Junlei, Nyoka’s got Charon, Ellie’s off with her own crew, Felix is waist deep in rebuilding shit, Max is a goddamn therapist. They all are people, they have lives in Halcyon. I’m just an outsider. I don’t belong here.”

“That’s not true you’re a valued-”

“Then why do I feel so alone?!,” shouted the Captain. She staggered to her feet, running her hands through her close cropped hair. “Why do I feel like I’m looking in on a world I can’t inhabit, that I can just fucking jumpstart a revolution and have to live the rest of my life alone, drifting on the outskirts in a ship that wasn’t supposed to be mine?!” Phineas saw the sway in her step as she grabbed the half full glass of water from the table and threw it against the wall. The plastic bounced off the metal, dumping it’s contents onto the floor. “I was able to deal with this Heinlein bullshit because I had my crew to back me up, now I’m just some drunken asshole with too much time to think.”

“I… can’t say I entirely understand,” said Phineas. He tried to formulate the words, the gears of emotional expression stirring from their long slumber. “From the logs I’ve read about Earth the change must have been drastic. But I know being lonely. You were the first person I had talked to in a long time. I remember when I pulled your cryo pod out of the bay. I was half delirious with the idea that I’d finally have another human to talk with. Dropping you onto Terra-2 instead of keeping you in the lab was one of the hardest things I’ve done.”

“Aren’t you fucking sick of it?,” said the Captain, whirling to face Phineas. “Being alone for the greater good, working for the greater good, losing your mind for the greater goddamn good? Do you never just want to… I don’t know, walk away?” 

“I considered it,” said Phineas. “But I know that to atone for my actions, to even begin to repay the suffering I have caused, I would need to work many lifetimes.” The Captain rolled her eyes at him. “But you have significantly less innocent blood on your hands. You could have walked away at any time. No one would have blamed you for washing your hands of me and leaving to become a cargo runner. Why didn’t you?”

“Because…,” the Captain’s voice trailed off. She sighed deeply, sitting back down on her chair. “Because I saw what the board was doing, and I couldn’t fucking let everyone suffer because of it. Parvati, Junlei, Felix, people like them were suffering and I wanted them to have a chance.”

“You stayed because you cared for people, and for their fate. That is not the choice of someone who wants to give up on others,” said Phineas, gently. 

“I just… I don’t want to hold everyone back,” whispered the Captain. 

“If there’s anything I can promise, it’s that you are not holding anyone or anything back,” said Phineas. He stood, picking up the plastic cup from the floor and refilling it. “Here, you are going to drink this all, or so help me Law, I will get one of the thawed colonists to give you a lecture on the dangers of alcohol poisoning.”

“Fine, fine,” said the Captain. She downed the glass in one long gulp. “Ugh… thank you, Phineas. For not giving up on me.”

“I ought to say that to you. You are the one who is here being the face of a revolution. I’m just the damned fool scientist who had the good fortune to thaw her.”

“You keep saying shit like that and I’ll end up with a big head,” said The Captain, a shred of her wit returning. “God, I am going to hate myself tomorrow.”

“Almost certainly,” said Phineas. He held a hand out to the Captain. “But that is a problem for the morning you. For now let’s get you to bed.” The Captain hesitated for a moment, but took his hand. Phineas pulled her arm around his shoulder and began the short walk down the hallway.

* * *

The Captain woke up, her head pounding. Groaning in pain, she reached over beside her bed to find a full bottle of water. She cracked it open, downing it in short order. 

“ADA, what time is it?,” she said. The sound of her voice made her head pulse nauseatingly. 

_It is 1:38 in the afternoon, Captain. Your presence is required in the Kitchen. You have visitors._

The Captain groaned as she realized how much she had overslept. She had meant to jump out of the Hope by noon, giving her the time to get the colonists settled in before she returned for the night. She threw on a pair of pants and her coat, trying to finger comb her hair to anything near presentable. Hopefully the colonists would forgive her.

As she staggered to the kitchen she realized she recognized the sound of chatter. It had been 4 months since she had heard it. 

Her crew was there as she entered the room, lounging around the kitchen like no time had passed at all. She looked at them, stunned by their presence.

“Cap, you look like shit,” said Ellie. 

“What the fuck? How are you here?,” said the Captain, trying to blink the sleep out of her eyes. She was half convinced she was still dreaming. 

“Phineas called,” said Parvati. “Came around and picked us up in his shuttle this morning. He was sayin’ you needed some friends around.”

“Looks like you could use these,” said Nyoka. She tossed over a bottle of caffenoid pills. They bounced off the Captain’s head, landing in her open hands. She pulled the lid off the bottle and swallowed a few dry. They kicked in with a rush, clearing some of the fog from her head.

“Boss, you doin’ ok?,” said Felix. “Phineas sounded worried.”

“Yeah, there’s no need to be a hullhead on this one, Cap,” said Ellie. 

“Hey, I can take care of myself. I’m fine,” said the Captain, trying and failing to put up a fight.

“People who are fine don’t typically drink a bottle of vodka by themselves,” said Max, raising an eyebrow.

“Hey, it was only half a bottle,” said the Captain, meekly.

“Captain, we’ve been worryin’ about you,” said Parvati. “I know Junlei and I have missed having’ you around.”

“Yeah, it’s been weird not having everyone around,” said Felix. “Especially you, Boss.”

“I’ve… I’ve missed you, too,” said the Captain. She could feel herself starting to cry, a few hot tears rolling down her face. “It’s been so _hard_ without you here.” She sobbed as Parvati pulled her into a hug, patting her back as she cried.

“There, there, Captain. It’s gonna be okay,” she said. Nyoka dropped in behind her, wrapping her arms around them. Felix dragged the other two in, forming a big group hug.

“I think,” said Nyoka “That we need to do this more often. I’ve got some stories to share with y’all over some beers.”

“Yeah,” said Felix, mumbling. “Shit’s been rough, we gotta stick together.”

“As much as I hate to say it, we’re family,” said Ellie. “The best one I’ve got.”

“Thanks, guys,” said the Captain. “Can you all hang around for awhile?”

“Our schedules are clear,” said Max. “But we had an idea.”

“Junlei has got a special night planned for us at the Lost Hope,” said Parvati. “They’ll cook up somethin’ you like and you can tell us about the last few months.”

“Will Phineas be ok without me?,” said the Captain. “I was supposed to run a few colonists to Monarch today, get them all settled in.”

“He told us to keep your ass out of work or trouble,” said Nyoka. “So you’re stuck with us.”

“I… I don’t know what to say,” said the Captain. She felt her eyes brimming up with tears. “I’ve missed you all so much.”

“Well, you’ll have to come by more often,” said Ellie. “Just ‘cause you’re the savior of Halcyon doesn’t mean you can’t come visit us.”

“Yeah, boss! We’re still your crew,” said Felix, clapping the Captain on her back. 

“For now though, please get a shower, or I’ll get SAM to hose you down,” said Max. “You smell like vodka and sweat.”

“Yeah, sure. I could stand to rinse off. Y’all make yourselves at home,” said the Captain, dashing off to her quarters. 

The crew of the Unreliable settled in, sitting around the long table that sat in the center of the room. Felix and Parvati chatted about serials, Nyoka and Ellie shot the shit about what they had been up to, and Max fixed them all a snack as he shot Phineas a message that their plan had gone off without a hitch.

It was good to be home. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I wrote this because it made me really sad that the game ended with the Unreliable's crew all going their separate ways post-game. I felt really close to all the characters, and it sucked that the found family fell apart. So, I wrote a fanfic about it. Hope you liked it!


End file.
